In the mid-1930s, a Montreal young, starry-eyed Trotsky- idealist is the member of a cell trying desperately to elect a socialist amidst the rampant political corruption in Montreal. Through his ne’er-do-well uncle, he gets a job as a clerk in a tobacco shop which is really a front for a bookie joint. he begins his Pilgrim’s Progress in reverse as his eyes are opened to the corruption all about him. He becomes romantically involved with a prostitute living and working above the store, eventually begins to tap the till to offset his meager wages, and acts as a go-between for the adulterous affairs of the owner’s wife, and deals cynically in political propaganda by informing a reporter that Leon Trosky is hiding in Montreal. Plus he finds he has an uncanny knack for picking winning horses at the race track.